Random Musings: A Oneshot Collection
by IdiotWithaBoxandaScrewdriver
Summary: Random 5: How about a job that's literally the death of you?
1. Together

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

Wolf: Uh, yeah, this is pretty damned depressing, it wouldn't leave me alone though, so...

Disclaimer: Own nothing

I died. My brother killed me.

He did it to save the rest of the world from me,

But what do I care about them,

They're worthless, nothing.

Rage fills me up when

I think about how he managed to cut me down,

How he managed to destroy me!

Somehow, I will have my revenge.

Somehow, I will make him suffer.

I sail across the ocean

Intend to make my goal a reality.

I hover outside.

It's dark, is he there?

I go inside.

Anna in the living room,

Watching TV

Where is he?

Upstairs, searching

A sob, quiet, grieving.

I float towards the sound

I stop, in shock

A gun, he has a gun.

His eyes are closed

Tears cascade down his face.

Body is thin,

Arms, covered in cuts

His pain, bared for all.

He puts the gun to his head.

I'm frozen, hypnotized.

He opens his eyes

Stares right at me.

'I'm sorry.'

The blast of the gun is deafening

I lurch forward.

Catch his spirit as it flees his body

The body falls, eyes wide in death.

Anna comes, hearing the shot.

She stares at the body

No tears, no screams

Just stares

I've seen enough.

I bear his spirit away.

He's light, and warm in my arms.

I hover over the city

Him in my arms.

'Why?'

He looks up at me,

Dark eyes soft and endless

'I buried your body,

They didn't understand

Wrapped in their hatred

They saw only the monster destroyed

Not the man.

They couldn't understand

Why I cried for your death

They drew away from me

They left me alone

I didn't see any other way out.'

I stare in shock

Never could I have made him suffer

As much as he has

And never could I want to

I realize with surprise.

A strange new feeling washes over me

As the sun lights the sky

I say to him

'I've been alone too

Isolated, by hatred or awe.

But we don't have to

Be alone anymore, do we?'

He looks up at me

And nods.

'Hao, my brother.'

'Yoh, my brother.'

Together, forever.

**OWARI**

Wolf: Please don't kill me. (hides)


	2. Merry Christmas

Wolf: I know, it's a little early for Christmas, but this little oneshot has been bugging me, so enjoy. Warning, slightly depressing. I own nothing!

Do you have any idea of what you've done to me? How such a small, simple thing could tear through everything I ever believed in the space of an instant? How could you? You didn't know me, you didn't know what was coming next, and yet, you still changed everything.

It was snowing. Christmas eve in Tokyo, all the people rushing home to imitate that famous Western holiday, pathetic really, trying to be like them, there's nothing wrong with the way things were before. People give me a wide berth as they rush about the busy downtown streets. I look in the glass in the neighbouring shop and see why; long dark hair, and scowling black eyes, I look like I'd kill someone as soon as look at them, which, I would.

Someone brushed against me and I turned with a snarl. It was you, and you weren't even paying attention to me. You were staring up at the falling snow, an expression of childish wonder in your blue-grey eyes as the flakes settled onto your hat and in your lashes. You cupped your hands more firmly around the hot chocolate in your hands, a rare indulgence for a broke university student.

Out of habit I looked into your thoughts, seeking your heart. You were happy, because you were going home that day, back to Canada, to be with your family for Christmas. Images of presents, food, and all the people that surround you in a comforting cocoon of love imprinted itself into my mind, making my own heart ache for the easy familiarity and reassurance of family. But I shook it off, I'm Hao Asakura, I don't need anyone.

Without me knowing it, you were noticing me for the first time. I felt your eyes take in my jeans and black trenchcoat. I wasn't wearing any gloves or a hat. It was cold, but I didn't care. It seemed you did though.

A soft nudge at my side made me look over at you again. Smiling shyly you held out the cup of hot chocolate that you hadn't really been able to afford, but bought anyways, just as a treat for yourself. For a moment I did nothing, but looking into your earnest eyes I knew there was only one thing I could do. I took the cup from you, feeling its warmth seep into my cold fingers.

I could find no way to say anything to you, so stunned I was that you would give up your rare indulgence for another.

"You need it more than I do." You said in answer to my unspoken question. "Merry Christmas." You whispered. The light changed and you walked away, heading across the street, heading home. I couldn't move, still completely taken aback by you. You turned for one last smile, and that was when the beautiful twilight was shattered.

Glass cracked and shots rang out from inside a nearby shop. Someone screamed as masked men ran out, still firing shots. I saw you frozen in the middle of the street, large eyes wide with fear, before you jerked back, blood spraying up from you as you fell.

The cup tumbled from my nerveless fingers, hot chocolate spilling in the snow as I ran into the street. I got to you first, pulling off my coat and placing it over the holes ripped into your stomach and chest, trying vainly to staunch the bleeding. Why was I doing this? Maybe it was the smile you gave me, or the hot chocolate that you so willingly gave a stranger. Whatever it was, I couldn't leave you there alone.

You gasped, staring up at me with frightened blue-grey eyes. Someone was screaming for an ambulance, but I knew just by looking at your torn up body and the amount of blood that you were losing that it would come too late. Looking into your eyes, I knew you knew it too. There was nothing to be done except stay by your side as you bled out in the cold.

A tear slid down your cheek, followed by another, and another. Fear, pain and grief mingled in those droplets falling from your eyes. You didn't want to die, you didn't want to have to say goodbye yet. You were going to see your family, why couldn't you see them one last time?

I took one of your hands in your own. Your skin was warm against the chill of my own. You grasped at my hand weakly like a life preserver. How could I reassure you that everything was going to be alright? How could I tell you that it wasn't an end but a beginning that you raced toward with every slowing beat of your heart?

"There's something even more beautiful than this waiting for you." I whispered softly to you, trying in vain to prepare you for what's ahead. "No more of the bad things in life, and in no time at all, the people you love will join you." I didn't know if I was comforting you or not, I'd never done this for anyone, never cared enough to do it.

I was so wrapped up in the pain that humans had caused me, so intent on making them suffer for their cruelty, that I forgot that they could get hurt too. I forgot that they could be just as scared, just as confused, just as vulnerable as I could be. I had also forgotten how kind they could be too, until you reminded me, and now you were being taken away. Life is too cruel sometimes.

Suddenly you smiled at me, a soft, peaceful smile. It was going to be alright, that smile seemed to say, as though I was the one that needed comfort instead of you. Your breaths came in unsteady, faltering gasps as your hand's grip on mine weakened more and more. Dimly I could hear sirens, but they seemed so far away. So cruel of fate to take you away from life without letting you say goodbye.

A babble of voices announced the arrival of the paramedics, but it was already too late. A soft sigh escaped your lips as your eyelids fluttered shut for the last time. Your still warm hand slipped from mine as your body simply became an empty shell, the soul gone.

Which brings me to now. Here I am, standing outside my brother's door on Christmas Eve, wondering how the hell I can expect him to welcome me in. But I don't know where else to go, my heart feels shattered, my mind, broken.

My body is warm though, because you've wrapped yourself around me. You stayed behind as they took your body away, your soul warming me as you whispered, urging me on. You want me to be with family, you know I need it, but I just don't think I can ring that doorbell.

You solve the problem for me however, by reaching out, using my arm to my surprise, and ringing the doorbell. I can feel your happiness inside me, but all I could feel was dull, aching sorrow for you and the life you will never get to live.

My thoughts are interrupted as the door opens and my brother, Yoh, peers out at me in surprise. Surprise that I am alive, surprise that I am standing there. I can't make a sound, no words escape my lips to explain why I am here, standing outside his door.

But Yoh just looks at me, out in the cold in only jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, my coat is long gone, and reaches out for my arm, to draw me inside. I can feel your joy inside me as you secure yourself around my heart for the time being.

Yoh says nothing as he leads me into the living room. Silence falls as Yoh's family and friends notice me. Yoh simply sits me down at the table, next to his spot and gets up again. I hang my head, unable to meet anyone's eyes. How can I? I've caused so much pain for these people, and never cared before, but you broke something inside me, and I can't stop caring.

A clink draws my eyes upward to the steaming mug of hot chocolate Yoh places in front of me before sitting down. The sight undoes me and the tears that I've held back fall as an image of your shy eyes as you hold your cup out comes to me, accompanied by one of your body bleeding in the street.

Stunned, no one moves as I break down. No one, except Yoh who reaches for me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me close as I continue to sob. His hands are warm, just like yours. He whispers to me, reassuring me as one hand grasps mine. I grasp back just like you did in those last moments, seeking something to hang onto as your world collapsed around you.

Eventually I can stop and look up. The faces surrounding me are softer now, concern in some, wariness in other, curiosity in all. Yoh asks the question everyone else is afraid to ask, and, haltingly, I tell them about you.

"I don't think I can be forgiven." I finish, tears beginning to seep down my cheeks once more. "I'm not sure I can forgive myself. All I want is a second chance, to do things right. To have a family again." I whisper this last, hanging my head once more. How can I ever think that they would be willing to have me as family? I feel your warmth inside me, reassuring, calming.

Warmth surrounds me on the outside too as Yoh wraps his arms around you. "You don't know how often I've wanted you to say those words." He murmured warmly. I stare at him in shock while you flare brightly inside me with happiness, flooding my insides with a deeper warmth than before. "I knew you were hurting, and I tried so hard to reach you, but I couldn't. I'm willing to be your brother, for real now."

Soft murmurs could be heard around the table at Yoh's statement. The rest of his family in particular are not happy about Yoh's easy acceptance of me. But their ire weakens somewhat as I bury my face in Yoh's shoulder, letting my tears seep into his shirt. "It's going to be alright." Yoh whispers soothingly. And somehow I know it is. It sounds crazy, but in that moment I knew that Yoh would make it alright.

You seemed to know, because you slowly let go of me, your warmth seeping out of me. But a warmth stayed in spite of that, Yoh's warmth, his love for me and it filled the space that you left. I couldn't see you, but I could feel you smiling as you faded into the afterglow, whispering one last time

"Merry Christmas."

Wolf: Review please.


	3. Angel

Wolf: Just a little oneshot that popped into my mind as a result of wishing I could protect the many women in the world that live in fear because their country does not respect them as men are respected. If there's enough interest, and I can figure out a plot, I might turn it into something a little more.

It was a brief little interlude of peace. There was no Shaman fight for the day, so everyone was sort of relaxing in the Patch village, which either meant finding somewhere else to be, or hanging out at one of the cafes and restaurants in the village. Yoh and his friends chose the latter option and were sitting about on the patio of one of the cafes.

It wasn't long before the X-Laws took notice of them all conveniently in a group and took advantage of the opportunity to sit and once again convince Yoh and his friends to join the X-Laws' campaign. As usual, their appeals were falling on deaf ears with Yoh. Tamao, who was sitting and trying to make herself as small as possible without completely disappearing, was intimidated by them.

This wasn't a momentous feat, the truth was, many things intimidated Tamao, she was shy and easily agitated by nature. Anna could do it, as could a few of Yoh's friends when they were being rowdy, Hao and his crowd certainly frightened her, but to Tamao the X-Laws seemed like some kind of predator, just waiting to go into the kill.

"How can you deny that we are headed by the divine?" Marco was saying. "Our angels are proof of that."

"You still insist on calling those weak hunks of metal angels?" Tamao actually let a squeak at the sound of the new voice and tried to make herself even smaller as Hao sat down at another table, smirking smugly at the X-Laws' livid expressions.

"Get away from here, demon, this conversation is not for you." Marco snarled.

"If you wanted it to be private, you should have gone somewhere private." Hao replied smoothly. He reminded Tamao of some big cat, graceful, smooth, dangerous. He made her shiver, especially when he spoke in that deceptively friendly tone he liked to use.

"My followers do indeed carry angels, Hao." The Iron Maiden said in a toneless voice. "Your lies do nothing to change that." Hao scoffed loudly. "And what say you, young lady? Do you believe that they are angels?"

Tamao flinched when the Iron Maiden looked at her while saying those words, and quite suddenly, probably out of surprise, a single word was driven from her lips. "No."

Marco dropped his glasses in surprise and the Iron Maiden stared like she'd grown another head. Even Hao raised an eyebrow and the rest of them just were silent, their attentions all on her. She felt her face going bright red and started to tremble; she did not like being the center of attention one bit.

"How can you say that, girl?" Marco yelled, making Tamao cringe even more. A hand lightly touched her shoulder, bringing with it a calming aura that was Yoh's specialty. As always, his closeness made her blush madly. She wished, not for the first time, that it was her marrying him and not Anna.

"Leave her alone Marco." Yoh's gentle voice had a bit of a hard edge to it as he spoke. "You're scaring her."

"But how would she know that we do not possess the power of angels?" Marco blustered.

"I met one." Tamao said in a tiny voice. The fact that she had spoken again at all surprised her deeply, but then the incident had affected her deeply enough for her to feel it was important enough to speak.

"You met an angel?" This came from Cebin, the X-law with the strange mask over his face. It somewhat reminded her of Mikihisa's mask, but where Mikihisa's mask exuded an aura of mystery and wisdom, Cebin's reminded her of some frightening gargoyle. "You spoke to one."

"I-I didn't actually talk to her-"

"Her?" Marco repeated in astonishment.

"And she didn't talk to me." Tamao finished. "She was just... there."

"This is utter nonsense." Marco growled. "I think it's time we ended this conversation."

"I think that she should go on." Hao again, with his voice deceptively calm and pleasant. "I for one would like to hear more of this encounter."

Tamao snuck a glance at him sitting at the other table and saw no taunt in his eyes, just dark-eyed interest. He raised an elegant eyebrow at her and she looked away again. Yoh touched her shoulder again, soothing her.

"I think most of us would like to hear your story Tamao." He said kindly. "But if you're not comfortable telling it, then you don't need to. We won't pressure you."

Tamao found, quite alarmingly, that she was ready to tell her strange little tale. With a deep breath, she began to speak, and her mind travelled all those months back...

_I had been running errands in the city, and dawdled somewhat I'm afraid in the bustle of the downtown, so strange and wonderful for me, who had lived in a smaller village most of my life. But, anyways, it was quite dark by the time I was to go home, and quite late, and seeing as I had no car, or someone to call and bring me home, I had to take the bus back to the inn. _

_I was scared of the bus. I had heard many stories, and seen articles in the paper about how women were groped, propositioned to and even followed off and... violated in some dark corner when they used the bus, especially late at night. But what was I to do? There was no other way home, so I had to take the bus. _

_It was alright for the first couple of stops, no one suspicious-looking or nasty. But then a couple of men got on, and they did not look very nice. They were big, rough-looking men and they stared at me like I was some piece of meat. The one in particular had a leering look on his face that made my skin crawl. I began then to pray to anyone listening that I would make it back to the inn safely. _

_The one man moved to get up and I could feel my heart begin to beat rabbit-fast. I knew then that something awful was going to happen to me. But before he could completely stand I felt someone move beside me, standing up just by my seat. From the corner of my eye I saw the man slowly sit back down, an almost nervous expression on his face. _

_I didn't look directly at the person next to me at first, afraid that it would be something worse than those men, but I looked down at the floor and spied a pair of muddy, worn, working boots. Involuntarily my eyes travelled upwards, up slim, but muscular legs coated in dust._

_My eyes took in a pair of equally dusty knee-length khaki shorts and a faded red tank top that revealed that the person was most assuredly a woman. On one dusty, suntanned upper arm there were symbols, words I think though in a strange language that had a flowing beauty, tattooed there in black. I finally looked at the woman's face and found myself thinking how strange she looked._

_The strangeness did not come because her face was in any way deformed or distorted, but because it was pretty, very pretty, and young, which was a stark contrast to the tough, hardy look of the rest of her body. Adding to the strangeness was the fact that her hair, a dark dusty brown, was buzzed short all over her head. _

_As I stared she turned her attention to me and I found myself staring into eyes the colour of the ocean in a storm and had the same dangerously unpredictable quality to them. She smiled at me though, such a warm and reassuring smile that I instantly felt my heartbeat slow a little bit. She turned her face away from me again to stare at the men, and her face hardened and her eyes grew even more stormy, as though daring them to try anything. _

_They didn't do anything the rest of the trip either, they just sort of stared at anything but the woman standing beside me. The bus came to my stop and I nervously got up, knowing I still had a ways walk before I got to the inn, and stepped off the bus._

_She stepped off right behind me. I could hear her heavy boots thudding against the ground with every step, and the sound calmed me as I walked. She was right behind me too, any closer and she'd be stepping on my heels. I didn't turn back to look at her, I didn't need to, I knew she was there because of the thud of her boots against the ground. _

_She followed me right up to the front stoop of the inn. I turned around then, to thank her, but when I did, she had vanished. There was no sound of boots hitting the pavement, no sign that she had ever even been there at all._

Tamao finished her story to complete and utter silence. Everyone was staring at her again, and she looked down, blushing once more. Oddly enough it was Hao who broke the silence.

"Do you remember what the tattoo looked like?" He asked. Tamao nodded her head; the look of it she would never forget she supposed. "I have a knack for languages, perhaps I can translate, if you'll draw it out."

"Why would you do that?" Yoh asked curiously.

"I am as curious as anyone here I'm certain is as to what the tattoo meant." Hao replied haughtily. Tamao hurriedly scribbled out the elegant symbols she remembered and handed it to Hao with a shaking hand. He looked at it and both eyebrows lifted up.

"Interesting... this is Arabic. Haven't seen this in awhile." He murmured, half to himself. A faint frown creased his forehead for a moment before smoothing over. "Well, now that is interesting."

"What is it, Hao?" Yoh asked eagerly.

"If my translation is right, and it most certainly should be, the tattoo on your angel's arm says 'I am the light in the darkness.'"

"Seems like something an angel would have on her, doesn't it?" Faust mused.

"Preposterous." Marco muttered.

"No." Tamao said firmly. "She was an angel, no matter how anyone saw her she was an angel to me because she was there right when I needed her and asked for nothing in return." Yoh chuckled at her words.

"I think that is all that matters."

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Wolf: What do you think?


	4. The Last Gift

Wolf: I've often asked myself the question, what would I do if...? One of those questions was, after reading Shaman King, how would I and my sisters react if Hao put his plan of human destruction into effect. This little story is inspired by another written recently entitled Nine, Eleven, Ten: The Kingdom by RoseblossomWarrior. It is a wonderful and slightly depressing fic and I think you should read it. Also I wrote this out while listening to the song Obliviate from the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 soundtrack, it makes it all the more depressing.

The Last Gift

Hao Asakura had finally snapped. Maybe it was the fact that he'd failed a third time, or maybe it was simply the fact that it had been his own weaker half who had wrenched the Great Spirit from his grasp. Whatever the reason, when he had recovered from the injuries his brother had given him he was mad as hell and ready to do something about it.

At least some of his followers realized he'd gone crazy, but they didn't care. Hao's new plan meant that they would no longer have to hide in the shadows or be cast out of society like dogs to the curb. And truth be told, they were all a little afraid to go against him when he was so obviously mad with rage.

Hao's new plan, now that the Great Spirit was once again out of his grasp, was to unleash a horde of demons upon the world, allowing them to rampage and kill all in their paths. Once they were through, Hao would seal them away again and the world would finally be theirs. He spared no thought about the other shamans in the world, if they died, so be it, if they lived, they could live, so long as they didn't get in his way. He rather hoped Yoh would try though, he wanted the chance to squish him like a bug.

They, of course, would participate in the destruction of the pathetic humans. Once Hao had allowed the demons their freedom, he transported he and his followers to a random, quiet little street. He didn't want to be in the big city with their smells, sights and sounds so offensive to him. The suburbs would do just fine. With a nod of his head his followers spread out, seeking out their first victims.

%&%&%&%

Katie had her cheek pressed to the window, eyes straining as she stared out onto their quiet little street. Behind her in the living room the TV blared, panicked reports of monsters coming in from all over the world. The screams she could hear set her teeth on edge and sent fear tingling down her spine; those were real screams, not movie screams.

"Turn that damned thing off!" She roared at her sisters. The two of them lifted their heads to her and the three of them glared at each other. Their blue-grey eyes were the only thing that marked them as sisters, they were as different from each other as could be. Katie was brunette with a buzz, small features and curvy body, and a bookish nature. Rhianna, the middle child was tall, muscular, blonde and athletic. Allie, the youngest was ginger, small but gangly and an imaginative writer.

Rhianna finally did as she asked and turned the TV off. The screams did not. They were fainter, but they were still there and Katie pressed her face back up against the window. As she watched a neighbour from way down street ran up to just past the house to the left of hers and then was flattened by some invisible force. He didn't move from where he'd fallen.

It was really happening then, the end of the world had come. She fought the panic that gibbered inside her, making her unable to think. Her sisters, she had to get them out, but they couldn't go out the front, they'd be caught for sure.

"Nan, All, we gotta go." She said, striding into the living room. "They're on our street, killing people. We gotta go before they get to us."

"Where?" Rhianna asked.

"Through the backyard. Jump the fences, hopefully they won't think to look through the backyards. We just got to run like hell." Katie replied. Her sisters ran to get their shoes as Katie stared back at the front window. Allie brushed past her, tying her one shoe as she opened the sliding door to the backyard. Rhianna came up beside Katie and they looked at each other, identical eyes saying the same thing; they wouldn't make it.

"I'll hold them off, for a little while." Katie said, trembling all over. "It should give you two enough time to get out."

"I'm staying with you." Rhianna said with an impatient shake of her head. "If I'm going to die, I'm going down fighting for the ones I care about." She added when Katie was about to protest.

Mind made up, Katie walked over to the sliding door and closed it, locking Allie outside. Allie stared for a moment before banging on the glass. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" She screamed.

"We won't make it." Katie said, voice cracking. "They're too close. We'll give you a chance to get away, don't you see?"

"No, no, no." Allie whimpered, tears forming in her eyes. Katie placed her hand on the glass where Allie's hand was and Rhianna did the same.

"You stay alive, you stay strong, you understand? Run, just keep running, and when you can't run anymore, hide." Rhianna told their little sister. Allie, sobbing in gulping gasps, shook her head. "You have to go! We're not going to let them kill you, not without a fight, now you go!"

Slowly Allie nodded. "We love you." Katie said.

"I love you too." She answered.

"GO!" Rhianna ordered, hearing screams getting closer. Allie bolted away, hopping the fence into their neighbour's yard. Once she was out of sight the other two moved into action. Katie found one of their dad's old baseball bats, and Rhianna got a long, sharp knife from the kitchen. The two of them stood together by the front door, waiting. Katie was surprised to find she wasn't shaking anymore.

"Didn't think it would end like this." Katie commented, trying not to cry.

"I know, there were so many things that I wanted to do."

"So many things we should have done."

"So many things we shouldn't have done." Rhianna added. She flung one arm around her sister, hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry for everything mean things I ever said or did."

"So am I." Katie replied, hugging her back. "I love you."

"Me too." They parted and Katie put her hand on the doorknob. Rhianna nodded and Katie wrenched open the door. Rhianna was out the door with a wild yell, easily outstripping her less athletic older sister. Katie ran behind her, gasping as Rhianna was batted aside by a huge man and then set upon by a strange doll.

"NAN!" She roared, swinging her bat and cracking the huge blond dude over the top of his head. He went down like a ton of bricks, but before she could attack anyone else, pain seared into her belly, stopping her in her tracks. She looked down and saw blood blooming across her shirt. The bat slipped from her fingers as she tottered forward, not really registering that the screams had stopped.

Her eyes were on her sister, who had already collapsed, a pool of blood spreading around her. Katie fell to her knees and then slumped on her side, struggling to breathe as blood bubbled up in her throat. She kept her eyes on Rhianna's face. The two of them stared at each other, reaching out to clasp hands with weakening fingers.

"What did you hope to achieve, human?" A smooth voice asked above them. Kat's eyes shifted to look at the young man with long chestnut hair and wild dark eyes who stared down at her. Katie dimly thought that he was very handsome and looked mildly confused. "Did you really believe you could stop us? You will die for nothing."

Katie looked away from him, back at Rhianna. Her younger sister smiled at her, a small trickle of blood slipping from the corner of her mouth down her face. Katie's awareness was starting to dim and she knew that it wouldn't be long now.

"Be strong." Rhianna rasped out. Katie knew she wasn't talking about them and nodded her head.

"Be safe." She breathed. "Love you." She whispered to the empty air, a single tear trickling down her cheek.

"Love you... so... much." Rhianna choked out. Katie watched the light fade from her sister's eyes and felt her fingers go slack. She shifted her eyes, looking up into the face of the young man.

"We died... for love. That's... not... nothing." She rasped. She only had a moment to see his face contort before blackness welled up in her vision and she experienced the greatest sense of peace she'd ever felt in her entire life.

The shamans watched as her eyes dimmed in death and her fingers uncurled. Hao stared at the two humans who had run to their deaths instead of away from them like everyone else had. "Let's go." He said without any emotion in his voice. The shamans continued on their way, leaving the bodies in the road.

Some distance away, running feet halted. A pair of blue-grey eyes looked back, as though the owner had heard something. They filled with tears for a moment before hardening again. Allie turned once more and continued running, determined not to waste her sisters' last gift.

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Wolf: Yeah, so what do you think about that?


	5. Deadly Day Job

Wolf: A funny little idea that popped into my head, partly because of Terry Pratchet's portrayal of Death in his Discworld novels. I own nothing but the insanity that is this plot-bunny, so enjoy!

Deadly Day Job

An average day, or as average as it could get when you were a shaman and the twin brother of a pyromaniac bent on the destruction of humanity, but that was a day in the life of Yoh Asakura. He was either blocking attempts on his life or sparring verbally with his twin these days, not much time for rest, or fun. It was becoming kind of a downer, really, but he'd wanted to do this, so he was going to see it through.

"Just wish it hadn't become so complicated." He muttered to himself, walking along alone. He didn't get a lot of time to himself, and the only place he could usually get it was the forest surrounding the Patch Village, so he snuck off as often as he could, to wander the forest, like he was doing now. There wasn't anything else to do, really, there were no matches going on and he was done his training, so he thought he'd walk for a little while.

"Did you get yourself lost?" A familiar voice asked above him as he came out of the forest to a ridge overlooking the village. Yoh sighed; he knew that voice, and he had hoped he wouldn't have to deal with this particular headache right now. He reluctantly turned and looked up, finding Hao lounging panther-like in the tree above him.

"I'm not lost, I've been this way before." Yoh replied reproachfully. He resented that Hao treated him like he was stupid. Hao only smirked at his annoyed expression. "What are you doing out here?"

"Not that it's any of your concern, but I do tire of Marco's constant rants if I am around in the village and I decided to get a little bit of peace and quiet. And what about you, dear brother?"

Yoh bristled internally, he despised it when Hao called him that because of his patronizing tone. He simply shrugged nonchalantly however. "Same as you, I suppose."

"Hmm." Hao simply went back to ignoring Yoh, staring out at the horizon. Yoh, annoyed that he'd been brushed off, again, turned to go and then stopped, staring up in surprise at a branch opposite the one Hao was sitting on.

There was what appeared to be a spirit sitting there, which wasn't unusual in an area where there was hundreds of shamans congregated. The spirit did look like the typical Grim Reaper, scythe casually braced on one shoulder as they sat there, black robes and cowl hiding the face, again, not very irregular. But, this grim reaper seemed to be writing something and humming very quietly to itself. Somehow this just screamed odd in Yoh's mind.

The cowl turned towards him and the spectre froze and dropped the notebook it was writing in onto the ground. "Oh, let me get that for you." Yoh saw Hao look around at his voice and focus on the figure on the other branch, but Yoh ignored that in favour of collecting the notebook and scrambling up the tree. He got up to the branch and stood on it, holding out the notebook.

"Here you go." He said cheerily. He was interested to see that though the hand that reached out for the book was pale, it was not the classic skeletal look that everyone seemed to give the reaper, and was quite dainty as well.

"Thank you." The voice that came out of the cowl was obviously female, though a little lower than a typical female, and it surprised Yoh once again.

"You're very welcome." He replied with a respectful bow.

"What are you?" Yoh jumped a little at Hao's voice and turned his head to find his twin peering around the tree, eyes narrowed but interested.

"She's Death, can't you tell?" Yoh said, amused that Hao didn't realize who the spectre was.

"Wellll, sort of." The figure answered.

"How can you be 'sort of' Death?" Hao asked snidely.

"I'm no god or ageless personification either, I'm actually just human." The figure said, reaching up to pull the cowl off. What was revealed underneath was a young woman, with a pretty narrow face, short, dark brown hair and blue eyes that blinked benignly at the both of them.

"How is that even possible?" Hao demanded, startled and confused.

"My bosses, the lords and ladies of the underworlds, decided a long time ago when population was exploding that it would literally kill the gods to be in all these places at once to deal with death. Therefore they created the organization of the Reapers, which employs human beings with a certain... disposition, you could say, to deal with the task of delivering the souls of the dead to wherever they belong in the afterlife."

"Wow, and that's a job?"

"With pay and everything." The girl responded cheerily. "We each get a shift and a quadrant to look after, this is part of mine, and it was fairly quiet, up until a couple months ago." She gave Hao a pointed look. He looked affronted.

"How do you know it's my fault?" He demanded. She shrugged her shoulders.

"It's standard procedure to find out what's going on when there's anomalous activity in your quadrant." She replied. "It was quiet before you lot came along." She said, somewhat annoyed. "And I've had to listen to the Lord of Hell's rants about how you keep managing to get back to the living world. Gods, he's such a baby sometimes."

"You're talking about Satan?" Yoh asked.

"Well that's one of his names."

"What's your name, by the way?" Yoh asked.

"I don't suppose it would hurt to tell you, seeing as you've already seen me, it's Kat." She answered, holding out her hand. Yoh shook it to be polite, but Hao just simply snorted.

"So you're a Reaper, does that mean you're dead?" He questioned.

"No, essentially I can let my spirit leave my body whenever I have to work and return to it at the end of my shift." She opened the notebook and frowned down at the pages. "I think I'm done this."

"What is it?"

"Oh, just paperwork." She shut the book with a snap. "Honestly it's the only tedious thing about this job."

"Why wouldn't the Lords of the Underworlds employ shamans?" Hao asked in a condescending tone. "They'd be much better suited to the job."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kat demanded hotly.

"Humans don't like what's unnatural." Hao replied. "A little sniff of magic and you all go crazy."

"Considering I'm no shaman and I've been at this job for several years and think it's the best thing that ever happened to me is proof that your argument is flawed." Kat snarled. "Plus, something about the energy of shamans makes it difficult for them to slip through the planes between realities, which is part of the job."

Hao opened his mouth again but Yoh gave him a look. "You're just making yourself look like an asshole." He informed the elder twin lightly. Hao's dark eyes smouldered slightly, but he said nothing more. "I'm sorry, are we keeping you from your work?"

"Not really, it's quiet for the moment." Kat replied.

"I wonder how much power a Reaper would offer the Spirit of Fire if it absorbed one." Hao wondered aloud, clearly still in a bit of a snit.

"If you tried you'd have all the Lords of the Underworld after you in a second. They're very protective of their employees." Kat replied idly.

"Even the Lord of Hell?" Hao asked sceptically.

"Actually, he'd probably be the first after you." Kat replied. "He's actually a pretty cool guy. I mean I know his job is to give the scum of the earth their just desserts, but he's actually not a bad guy, it's just a job, you know? So he's having to be all cruel and stuff, and he does like his job getting to give the worst of the worst their comeuppance, but he does get tired of being nasty, and so he treats his employees so nicely."

"I find that hard to believe." Hao sneered. Kat sighed and rummaged around inside her robes. She pulled out a small, brightly wrapped package of cookies with a note attached to it. Yoh took it and showed Hao the card, trying very hard not to laugh. 'Happy birthday, Miss Kat! Love, The Esteemed Lord of Hell.' It read.

"He baked those himself for me, lots of cinnamon in them." Kat commented, chuckling at the look on Hao's face. She looked off into the distance and stood up, taking back the cookies. "Work calls."

"Will I see you around?" Yoh asked eagerly. She gave him a serious look as she pulled her hood back up.

"Let's hope not." She replied before disappearing. Yoh shook his head.

"See you around Hao." He called as he leapt down out of the tree and headed back to the village.

"The Lord of Hell bakes?" He heard Hao mumble as he walked away. Yoh laughed all the way back to the village.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&~~~~~~~~

Wolf: Well, it amused me. Let's hope it amuses you as well.


End file.
